>> putin breaks his silence on sue crane by speaking nonsense. it's tuesday, march 4 and this is "now." >> major developments today in the volatile crisis in ukraine. >> russian president putin -- >> addresses crisis in ukraine for the first time. >> russian troops firing warning shots over the heads of ukrainian troops. >> a dangerous situation. >> we condemn the russian federation's act of aggression. >> the white house confronting major challenges. >> prepared to make sure that the rights of all ukrainians are upheld. >> the u.s. ended all military relation with creme zblin merkel told president obama that she wasn't sure putin was in touch with reality. >> he's seeing the western hand behind everything. >> putin doesn't believe that the cold war is over. >> soldiers currentfully crimea, they're not russian soldiers at all. >> putin is, in many ways, i think, delusional about this. >> there is no sign of

agreement. >> we stand on the side of history, a sovereignty that is able to make their own decisions about their own lives. >> it's not appropriate to invade a country and at the end of the gun pick what you are trying to achieve. >> stand-off continues and the stakes remain high. as deadlocked between russian and ukrainian forces continued, new reports hours ago show that russia test fired int intercontinental ballistic missile today. the test launch reportedly planned before russia invaded ukraine but the timing of this is convenient given the current climate. earlier at the air base in crimea, russian troops fired warning shots in the air as 200 ukrainian soldiers approached the base. along the black sea, a russian surveillance plane made its way through the skies, causing tension with neighboring turkey. but if you are russian president vladimir putin you are part of a

different reality. breaking his silence today on the situation in ukraine, put insisted the region was secure and in fact the new lay arrived military forces in crimea were not even russian. yes, putin said that. hours later in washington, president obama spoke out again against mr. putin's actions and sought to challenge the narrative russia's invasion was in any way a reflection of putin's strength. >> president putin is pausing for a moment and reflecting on what's happened. there is a strong belief that russia's actions is violating international law. i know president putin seems to have a different set of lawyers making a different set of interpretations, but i don't think that's fooling anybody. i actually think that this is not been a sign of strength but rather is a reflection that countries near russia have deep

concerns and suspicions about this meddling, and if anything it will push many countries further away from russia. >> as the president issued his statement on ukraine, secretary of state john kerry was in kiev arriving with $1 billion loan package for the country's faltering economy the secretary issued a forceful rebuttal to russia and offered the kremlin a diplomatic off-ramp to the 21st century. >> we condemn the russian federation's act of aggression in its diplomacy and respect for sovereignty not unilateral force that can best solve disputes like this in 291st century. this is the 21st century, and we should not see nations step backwards to behave in 19th or 20th century fashion. there are ways to resolve these differences, great nations choose to do that appropriately. >> but given president putin's

statements on ukraine thus far, it's clear that that off-ramp will remain unused for the moment. putin made fairly ludicrous statements. he said the soldiers in the ukraine, those 6,000 men patrolling cry meia, those were not russian forces at all. he insisted they were, quote, local defense forces and call the people's uprising against ukrainian president viktor yanukovych an unconstitutional coup and said they were sitting in a laboratory and running experiments on rats and described anti-government protests, the ones that killed scores of people two week ago an orgy of radicals. putin was nervous, angry, cornered and paranoid, written in the new republic. here was an authoritarian dancing uncomfortably in his new dictator shoes. in the last few years it's something like conventional knowledge in moscow journalistic

circles that put. was no longer getting new good information, surrounded by yes men who created a parallel informational universe. indeed, living in a parallel universe seem to be one of the only explanations for putin's perilously irrational behavior. joining me, mark halperin, and from washington, the new york times' white house correspondent and former moscow bureau chief, peter baker. peter, what thoughts are running through putin's head and why he's -- i mean we talk a lot about the history in this region, but a state-owned russian pollster, state-owned russian poll announced today 73% of respondents thought russia should not interfere in ukraine, from state-owned media. what -- what advantage do you think putin thinks he's getting from all of this? >> well, i do think it's important to see this through his eyes, not to agree with him,

but to understand him because you can't possibly, you know, deal with a russian situation like this without putting yourselves in their shoes. to them, ukraine is part of russia, the russian empire, the soviet union going back many, many years, and the notion that the west will come along in his view and install its own government, that's the way they look at this in kiev, deeply offensive. they would compare it to things like, you know, hostile government in canada, that kind of thing. it sounds farfetched to us in washington and here in new york and around the united states, but if you're living in moscow, this is the way that the world looks to them. they see the united states often in their view encircling them with allied and expansion of nato and so on in wayed that feel deeply offensive to the country that once viewed itself as equal to the news power around the world. >> but here, peter, let me push

back on that for a second. we talked about encircling russ russia, this as roger cohen points out in an op-ed, this began because of a benal trade agreement between kiev and the ukraine. given that, i mean, if putin's going to react with this show of force, on something like that, i mean what would happen if someone really challenged russia's power over ukraine? >> yeah, you know, it's not about trade agreement. it's what the trade agreement symbolize what it represented was, which camp was ukraine going to be? in the camp of the west or the camp of the east? the truth is, while president obama said repeatedly this is not a zero sum game, that's the way it's often looked national moscow, and you can't be in effect both. so the notion that the european union was trying to in effect entice ukraine away from

russia's orbit was deeply affected lost three of the former republics, baltic states to nato, number of former sal light publics are part of nato and the european union as well. to them this is a creeping, you know, advance increasingly toward their borders at the very different mentality, i think, than people in the west have right now. >> you know, mark, a lot has been said about the administration's foreign policy in recent weeks and especially recent days, a lot of it has been critical of the president. and i'm sort of the camp that, you know, i'm not sure if the president could have done anything to prevent vladimir putin from doing what he was going to do, but it puts the white house in a position where their foreign policy seems incredibly reactive and has though, for almost the recent past, i mean, years at this point, we know through rhetoric that the president has wanted to piv tote asia but events beyond his control has forced him to

look to the middle east and eastern europe, and one gets sense perhaps his heart has never been in it, he hasn't truly organized or articulated a foreign policy the way that he perhaps would if it was another region of the world. >> one of the benefits of the cold war, foreign policy was simple, there was a broad bipartisan consensus in most cases, not always, for what to do. it's complicated you can't have one foreign policy. pivot to asia was always going to be a challenge because the rest of the world would be something of a problem. part of the difficulty u.s. has needed russia on syria, on iran, all sorts of things, and once you treat putin like a reasonable actor, then you have to treat him like a reasonable actor. now that may be changing. but up until now, the olympics, the syrian negotiations, in every way, putin got that laying on hands to say, you're a great leader of a great power and

we'll treat you like a serious person. now the president started to shift. but he's been so far in with putin as with the previous administration, it's difficult to suddenly say, now this guy's bad, this guy can't be trusted, this guy can't be believed. >> mark brings up a good point, peter, which is once you have said, we're going to reset our relationship, this isn't about cold war chest and it looks like it is about cold war chest what does that do meaningfully in terms of go,iations with russians on iran or action on syria? how much even the language today from the secretary of state and from the president on russia, how much does that derail all of the other things we're working with russia on? >> that's why the crisis is so important to the white house. you hear some people say this isn't as important as syria or iran as other things. actually it is syrian and iran, it's just about ukraine, it's a whole panoply of hot spots around the world. if we end up in a sustained era

of hostility and fractiousness with russia, that has great impact. yesterday netanyahu was at the white house meeting with president obama, and part of their conversation was about ukraine because whether or not the israelis and the palestinians can find some sort of settlement, russia's a big player in that as well. this has great implications to go beyond one peninsula in southern ukraine. >> it has domestic implications, too. i have a printout, started with benghazi, from lindsey graham, started with benghazi, when you kill americans and nobody pays the price you invite this type of aggression #ukraine. what's go on over there has something to did with the killing of ambassador stevens in benghazi those years ago. do you think this is a -- i mean, if we go with peter's mapping out of this, if this does derail iran and syria to

the extent that we're doing anything on that, how much of this is a cuddle for republicans to wield not in 2014 but 2016. >> the people who want to say the president's weak want to say he's weak no matter what happens, he's weak everywhere around the world, and that's a smaller portion of the republican party than the portion of republican party on the conservative movement who thinks obama cares about idea. they're vocal, they're loud. it's not a dominant thing. you have not heard mcconnell the way you have lindsey graham, the "wall street journal" editorial page and others. i will say the syria nondecision, the decision to turn back on syria after drawing the line, i do think that that more than a talking point is a bit of a reality because you have democrats and some of the president's allies saying, at the time, putin takes signals and putin saw that as a signal. it doesn't mean that the president should try to intimidate putin in every decision to be based on pleasing putin but it does mean putin at

the press conference today with impunity it reminds of the cold war when soviet leaders were not easily turned by american actions. and to the contrary, were emboldened when they could stand up to america and make some deal important. this is not yet, i think it's overstating when people say this is the biggest crisis but it could become the biggest crisis the president face. >> you can be hur republicsure like big wraps to make gigantic enchiladas, somehow the irs could make their way into this, whatever transpires in ukraine. the question is, i ask your thoughts, mark, to the degree we start talking about foreign policy, the question then is turned back to conservatives and republicans in the gop which is, okay, what's your plan? and on that particular issue, i feel like it's one of these areas where there is no -- there is no articulated conservative foreign policy anymore. >> you saw that in the president's statement yesterday

when he said, i listened to what republicans say and it's pretty much what they're saying either what he's doing or what he's considering or things that he thinks are absolutely a bad idea. i have been saying this since the cry crisis began. the most important thing for the president domestically to brief the heck out of these republicans, consult with them, bring them in, explain what the administration's doing. i feel like in polarized times in which we leave, this is an exception of republicans are being supportive, rallying around, are looking to try to be as unified as possible. vitally important because i think the germans are going to be a bigger problem for the president than lindsey graham if this continues. >> peter, let me ask you, before we go, do you see putin as sort of, is there any sort of sense that you can read of a dawning realization that maybe holding back and not going forward with full-on occupation is a better play than what he had been thinking of perhaps yesterday? >> well, i do think there's something to look at in his statement today. if you strip of it all of the

bravado and the plus ter and histrionics and anti-western rhetoric, and actually look at what he said, one thing that's important, i'm not planning at this point to send in the military to eastern ukraine, that's the line at the sand right now that the west has drawn. yes, they'd like to reverse what's happened in crimea but the first step preventing a greater division of ukraine and putin in effect said today, not planning to do that. that's a basis for perhaps a path forward. >> perhaps. we shall see. >> or peter, as a soviet patsy. >> always that possibility. of course we're kidding. mark halperin and peter baker, thank you both for your time. coming up -- jury selection is under way in the new york terror trial of bin laden's son-in-law which sounds like a headline once upon a time could have been a big story for the day, but today it not. plus, today president obama unveils his 2015 budget blue print and republicans continued

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three town halls and zilch about bridgegate. but today, governor chris christie did have something to say about president obama. latest remarks just ahead. first, the white house goes on the offensive with a new budget plan and republicans continue to be mostly offensive. sam stein and ezra klein join me next on "now." your eyes depend on a unique set of nutrients.

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served daily. if you can't join them, beat them. today, president obama unveiled his 2015 budget proposal. in a nod to fellow democrats and reality of the republican-controlled house unwilling to cooperate on anything during an election year and for that matter any year, the proposal does away with cuts to the social safety net favor of relief for americans who need it the most. >> budget is about choices, it's about our values. as a country we've got to make a decision if we're going to protect tax break for the wealthiest americans or or make smart investments to create jobs and expand opportunity for every american. >> among the proposal an end to the carried interest loophole which allows hedge fund managers to be taxed at a very low rate,

spending $302 billion to repair the nation's roads and bridges, and closing the $4 billion worth of fossil fuel loopholes every year. the proposal includes an idea with historically bipartisan support. it's little known but highly effective tax rebate for the poor, earned income tax credit. yesterday in a 200-plus page report in the failures on poverty, budget chair paul ryan wrote, research finds that the best anti-poverty programs encourage work, programs like the earned income tax credit increase labor force participation. the president likes the earned income tax credit and paul ryan likes the earned income tax credit. so how did mr. ryan respond to the president's overture one day later? quote, this budget isn't a serious document, he said in a statement this morning, it is a campaign brochure. in divided government, we need

leadership and collaboration, and in this budget, we have neither. collaboration like working together to further the same policy? apparently not. congressman ryan was not the only republican to chime in. speaker boehner called the president's proposal his most irresponsible budget yet. speaking as the man who stood idly by while his party shut down the federal government and nearly crashed the u.s. economy, not but six months ago speaker boehner should know a thing or two about responsibility. joining me, political editor and white house correspondent at "huffington post," sam stein and editor and chief of the highly anticipated project x at box media ezra klein. is there any chance, maybe parallel universe, that republicans support something they actually support that the president also happens to support like the earned income tax cred it? >> yes, definitely in a parallel universe. >> great. done. >> i want to take a second,

eintc takes folks who aren't making much money and boosts their income. the reason nixon and reagan expanded it and bush liked it, it's getting folks whom the workforce is not attractive because the skills or market won't get them much money, it gets them into the labor force and gets them a toehold. this deals with a hole in the earned income tax credit. right now earned income tax credit helps adults with children. people of kids and kids certainly deserve help. what this does, it takes the folks who don't have children and it radically boots eitc. on the right of the chart, full-time minimum wage worker, you see it going 25 time increase, so it's 25 times higher for full-time minimum wage worker under the president

proposal. if you don't think childless workers should be brought into the workforce, this should be a very, very bipartisan proposal and just one last thing on it, it also brings age at which it can begin from 25 down to 21. for the young people having a real hard time getting a reasonable paying job in the economy, it's an important change to the law. >> sam, the vitriol that greed the release of the president. budget outline surprised me and didn't surprise me and republicans have focused on the 56 billion in additional spending for education, welfare, defense. but that's paid for. i mean, that's offset. the notion that this is a wildly irresponsible budget, this has stuff that republicans like, republicans used to like infrastructure spending. but instead, they have seized on the narrative that this is somehow reckless. >> well, first of all, no one told me we were allowed to bring graphs and i would have brought graphs to look as smart as i do. >> you're allowed next time. >> there might not be a next

time. >> oh, that will get you nowhere. go ahead. >> so, secondly, i agree with your point. i think if we took a step back and looked at the past three years we've had a fairly robust regiment in place, we've cut a lot of money, in part, due to the sequester, and it's led to lowering and lowering the deficit. if you put that in the context of what the budget proposal suggests, it's only a modest increase in spend, talking about 56 billion, like you mentioned, split between defense, nondefense, and it's paid for. we established that the budget agreed to by patty murray and paul ryan, those spending levels stay in place, and you'll use a few other tax hike is to par for $56 billion to relieve s sequestrati sequestration. we have a piece coming up that shows nih will be funded at 30.2 billion. that, in real term money, equivalent to the level that

george w. bush funded nih in 2002. we're not making people whole. we're lagging pretty badly. but as if you were to look at what republicans are saying, this is the most reckless spending possible. >> sam, on that note, the president say, our budge it is about choices, about values and this is expected to go nowhere, it's a moral document in the most sort of clear fashion from the white house. at the same time, you know, the president puts this out there and it's greeted with, vitriol and also sort of in the days coming, i think, crickets. dave camp announced a major piece of tax reform, which you can agree with or not but his own party put the nails in the coffin and said it was going nowhere. republicans feel like they have to no longer answer policy with no policy. >> look at senate democrats not putting forth a budget because murray and ryan established parameters. i think the biggest question going four is what the house

republican is doing with document. they've been spending the past couple of weeks railing on the president's health care act for conduct medicare advantage but they have eased cut in past budgets. they also criticize the president for dropping chained cpi from his budget in this request, but he says it's still on the table. i'm curious if they are committed to chained cpi if they include in the budget propel this term, something they have not done. both sides are in attack mode i would say, part has to do with the fact the elections are not too far away. >> ezra, what do we expect in given what paul ryan said about the eitc monday and how he's dismissed this budget on tuesday, do you think there's consensus in the republican party, speshgcifically the hous what should be proposed? >> there is consensus in the house what they can propose in the budget because they have been proposing radical budgets and got in all of the members to vote for a couple of years now. i don't think you'll esee a

complete fracturing now. there is no consensus how to propose governor earnable policies, possibly in a partisan way if they were in power. one of great questions in american politics is, even if paul ryan became president, in 2017 and had a republican house, and had a republican senate, would they pass anything that even looks at all like his budget, with its tremendous cuts to long-term medicare, tremendous cuts to medicaid, food stamps it's easy to have message documents when nobody's going to have to feel the pain of the policies i don't know if those budgets are real, if they got back into power and we're not anywhere near a point where there's a common ground on things that the eitc or even as you mentioned dave camp's tax plan which has problems to it, but was an overture to democrats and was immediately cut off by republicans. >> you know, sam, if we're talking about attack mode and kabuki theater to borrow a phrase from david axelrod, we

are finding out, many -- that the democrats may go forward with a discharge petition to basically force republican hands on immigration. and the expectation is that no republicans are going to vote to actually take up the petition but that it will put republicans in a very difficult place. >> it's tough to say. i mean, obviously, it hurts more to be on the record, i would say, not supporting the immigration framework that the senate passed that the house will put in discharge petition. certainly hurts more in the general election. but the midterms are a different beast. different turnout models, not as complicated as a national election. it seems clear at this in juncture, house republicans have calculated that there's not that much of a political price to pay for not acting on immigration reform. i was -- i was wrong when i suspected that it would have happened before 2014. but increasingly it looks

unlikely. i think the national party members are worried about its implications for 2016. again i don't see house republicans shaking over this. >> ezra, real quick, before we let you go, we talk about the dearth of ideas or -- actual legislation that can be passed and used in governance. i can't read or talk today, apparently. and on some level you think the republicans would suffer at the polls nationally for their sort of i think policy ineptitude, which is being uf fa mystic. but you look at polling, in states with senate races, 50% favor republicans, 42% favor democrats. that is in despite the fact that when you ask people who do you trust to do a better job helping the middle class, 47% of respondents say democrats, 34% say republicans. same with handling health care. 44% trust democrats, 36% trust republicans. so, on those issues, you know,

middle class economic policy and health care, the public trust democrats more and yet still voting republicans into office. >> great insight of the republican party going back to newt gingrich in 1994, voter blame the party in power if they don't like how things are going. if washington isn't working they believe it's the president's job to make it work. if the minority party cannot make it work, it benefits the minority party in the short term. i think republicans are done a real job destroying their long-term brand. but in short term, midterm cycling, it's not a bad sign. >> making sam stein not happy was not my plan today. i aim too emealiate that next time sam graces us with his presence. thank you for your time. after the break, hours ago, chris christie held another town hall but instead of facing tough questions about bridgegate, the new jersey governor call for a repeal of obamacare. does that sound familiar?

that's coming up next. first, getting live shots of secretary of state john kerry arriving in paris. that is after meeting with leaders in ukraine earlier today. more coming up. so we're up early. up late. thinking up game-changing ideas, like this: dozens of tax free zones across new york state. move here. expand here. or start a new business here... and pay no taxes for 10 years. with new jobs, new opportunities and a new tax free plan. there's only one way for your business to go. up. find out if your business can qualify at start-upny.com transferred money from his before larry instantly bank of america savings account to his merrill edge retirement account. before he opened his first hot chocolate stand calling winter an "underserved season". and before he quit his friend's leaf-raking business for "not offering a 401k." larry knew the importance of preparing for retirement. that's why when the time came he counted on merrill edge to streamline his investing and help him plan for the road ahead.

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new jersey governor chris christie, you can't have it both ways. at a town hall meeting this afternoon, christie was asked about the affordable care act, whether he agrees with it, what should be done. this was his response. >> well, elect a news president, what we need to do is start over. >> because the president made a mistake here. >> start over, unfortunately for the new jersey governor, it is not so black and white. while he's been throwing red meat to republican crowds with talk of scrapping the aca just last week the governor declared he was proud of his decision to accept one of the pillars of the

affordable care act, expanding medicaid coverage. and christie's role as chair of the rga putting a spotlight on that very decision. yesterday, the rga released an ad attacking a democratic candidate for governor in south carolina for wanting to expand medicaid. shaheen noted the hypocrisy sendingsen sending a letter to governor christie, noting it attacks s h shehen for taking the same position on medicaid expansion. has governor christie attitude changed? coming up a kentucky baptist group launches a new initiative that one spokesperson describes as, quote, outreach to red necks or officially second amendment celebrations. concept, come to church, enter a chance to went a gun.

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there is one trial that is all over the news right now, oscar pistorius, south african double amputee and olympian accused of murdering his model girlfriend. yesterday also saw jury selection under way in the trial of bin laden's chief spokesman and son-in-law. that happened in manhattan courtroom blocks away from the site of the world trade center attacks. abu gates pictured here with bin laden the highest ranking member of al qaeda to be tried it civilian court since the attacks. accused of killing americans and providing material support to al qaeda. as amy davidson asks, for a nation consumed by the attacks, both in our politics and popular culture, where is the great al qaeda courtroom drama?

when it comes to bringing terrorists to justice in the courtroom, we seem to get bored, she writes. the lack of drama not for lack of material. the "wall street journal" reports that the trial is kicking off what looks to be one of the biggest years for terrorism prosecutors since the september and 1th attacks. in the coming months, prosecutors in manhattan will try al masri, accused of plotting to open a terrorist training camp in oregon and abu anas al libi, accused of planning the bombings in kenya and tanzania. the success of the terrorism trial s will be crucial in determining how the united states proceeds going forward. due to pressure from congress and outcry from the public. late last year, attorney general eric holder characterized that decision as a mistake. >> i think that had we gone along the path that i announced at that time, we would not have

had to close down half of manhattan it wouldn't have cost $200 million a year, and the defendants would be on death row. >> instead, the military trial of ksm may not begin until the year 2015. then again, as davidson notes, eyes of the nation have not exactly turned to his pretrial hearings which have staggered along at guantanamo like around out of town show that anyone has any intention of seeing. joining me, amy davidson. we've been talking about, in an effort to draw more attention to what is happening, talking about the lack of discussion, which is nothing of the eyeballs turned, to words what's a huge deal for the country and for the city. >> one would think would be a huge dealing it is a mystery it's no like we're a country that doesn't like courtroom dramas.

it not like a country that hasn't been changed by 9/11. so that's where i started, why -- why aren't we more excited about the trials? why aren't we following them? even pretrial hearing for khalid shaikh mohammed, under a couple of answers, one is what holder was talking about how badly we've handled the ksm proceeding. he was arrested a dozen years ago. he has said that he masterminded 9/11. that should have been the trial of the ken tri and it never happened. it's instead we have he's not being tried in a real courtroom, he's being tried in what americans who has seen a dozen courtroom dramas don't recognize as a real courtroom. it looks artificial. it looks farce cal, it feels wrong and it feels off. you know these military commissions don't really have a long track record. so they're kind of making it up as they go along. >> or much of any record. >> a couple of points in the

proceedings when they've come to a dead halt because the judge and the prosecutor and the defense lawyers just don't know who's in charge of what. there is a moment in one of the ksm pretrial hearings where the sound was cut and nobody knew who had done it, why they're making it up. and the sad thing about this, one reason this week's trial is interesting, is we have a pretty well-established, well-developed court system where hundred of terrorists have been successfully tried. abu gaith, an important guy but he's not ksm. but the really striking thing is that he was arrested just a year ago. it only taken a year to get him from being pulled off a plane in jordan to sitting in front of a judge with jurors being selected in lower manhattan a couple of blocks from where the towers were knocked down. >> what you point this out in one of your pieces, the phrase,

al qaeda is used and bandied about and strikes fear in the hearts when we talk about benghazi or talk about unseen threats but when we actually get to the business of sort of justice, it has what you call almost some nal equality. do you equate that to 9/11 was a long time ago and not long time ago. americans' appetite for the engagement of war have declined significantly. the latest polling, was it a mistake to send troops to afghanistan? for the first time, more people said yes than no, 49-48%. the president in the saint of t -- state of the union said this war like all wars must end. we're pursuing a national security policy rely an on special ops and drone. it happens in secret and the public is ever, ever less engaged. >> some of it is probably things that have dragged on too long a

war that's gone on too long and seem to be every chapter looks like the last. although i feel that there's something going on with the trials that's not exactly there because there haven't been so many trials. it's not like we're weary because we've seen so many of the proceedings. we haven't seen them look the way they should look to us. we haven't seen justice be done in the sense that we understand it. and that's stressing for the families of the victim, some who fly back and forth for endless hearing at guantanamo that doesn't resolve themselves in what we think should happen. i think there's hope there. when ksm goes on trial, maybe we can rally our attention. it's a real, i think, post-9/11 tragedy that we willingly gave up the chance having arrested a guy who says he's the 9/11 mastermind to have him stand in flont front of a jury in lower

man hat. en we have the legal system and we didn't do that. >> depending on outcome of the next trials we'll be able to revisit the notion of justice and actual federal court as opposed to military there we know how to put al qaeda on trial. we've done it after the first world trade center bombing, after the african embassy bombings there. >> and it's a much more efficient way to bring justice. amy davidson, thank you for your time. a programming note, this week, rachel maddow hosts a documentary that explores reasons behind the bush's administration justification for the war in iraq. "why we did it" thursday, 9:00 p.m. eastern on msnbc. coming up, save your soul, buy some bullets. baptist churches in kentucky tried to lure parishioners in the pews with a chance to win a free gun, that is true, next.

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outreach to rednecks, an actual quote from a spokesman for the kentucky baptist convention explaining why his min ministry's holding mass gun giveaways. they're trying to lure nonbelievers to christ. the convention's team leader for evangelism puts it this way -- >> my goal to help people have an encounter with jesus. you have to know the hook that attracts individuals and the number of unchurch men that will show up at an event will be in direct proportion to the number of guns you give away. >> ex-pastor and former hunting show host chuck mccallister theorizes unchurched men showing up to get a ralphed off rifle will have an encounter with jesus in the process. the kentucky baptist convention preaches to a different kind of christian. >> i don't know about you, but i think the government ought to get their hands off our gunsen

that's how i feel. >> despite the strain of godliness, kentucky's faith leaders feel parishioners could get more god with less guns. like joe phelps, pastor of louisville's church, hour ironic to lumen in with guns to hear a message about jesus. it's a travesty of christ's message. added how terrible it would be if one of the guns were to cause the death of an innocent victim. a point of reflection that the kentucky baptist convention may want to consider this week, as many as 1,000 people are expected at their next gun give away event thursday in the town of paducah, which is also about ten miles from heath high school

where eight students were shot, three of them killed, by a classmate during a morning prayer meeting in 1997. participants at paducah's lone oak baptist church event thursday will be given a steak dinner with a chance to win 25 handguns, long guns and shotguns and a shot at salvation. that's all for now. i'll see you back here tomorrow 4:00 p.m. herein. "the ed show" is up next. good evening, americans and welcome to "the ed show." live from new york. let's get to work. chaotic scene at white house sunday. >> chanting, injustice now. the group urged obama to reject the pipeline. >> strapd themselves to a fence to protest proposed keystone. >> nearly 400 people were arrested. >> construction of the pipeline is on hold pending a decision from president obama. >> how